My mom’s name lights up the screen, and I quickly hit decline.
I wasn’t good enough for the people who had brought me into this world. Why would anyone else like what they get when they see the real me?
______________________
MJ had said there’d only be a few people at the cookout, but apparently in her world, a few people means the whole town. Vehicles line the drive and spill into the grass in front of Hayes’s house, and apprehension spills into my gut.
“I change my mind,” I say, looking at Theo. “Let’s go back. I’ll tell MJ I got sick.”
Theo chuckles but doesn’t turn around. Instead, he pulls behind a car parked along the curb and shuts his engine off.
“What are you doing? Didn’t you hear me?” There’s a slight note of hysterics in my voice, but at that point, I don’t even care. I’m not mentally prepared to face this many people today—to wear the mask I never wear on weekends.
“I heard you,” Theo says, but he doesn’t look at me. Opening his door, he hops out of the truck and shuts it again before I can respond.
My mouth falls open, and I watch in outrage as he jogs around the front of the truck to my side. Theo opens my door, a smirk written on the fullness of his mouth.
“I heard you, hopeless,” he reiterates. “I just never took you for a coward.”
I snap my mouth closed and narrow my eyes. I’m not stupid. He’s calling my bluff, and yet, apparently I am because I find myself unable to back down from his challenge.
“I’m not scared of going in there.”
Theo lifts one shoulder, completely unaffected by the ire in my voice. “Could have fooled me.” He stops, considering me. “Is this because of Hayes? Are you still in love with him?”
I snort. “I’m not in love with Hayes. I never was.”
A wrinkle creases his forehead. “But at the engagement party—”
“I wasn’t watching him because I was in love with him,” I interrupt, needing this conversation to end.
“Then why?
“That’s none of your business.
Theo’s lips tilt up. “Everything about you is my business, hopeless. You’re my girlfriend, after all.” The smugness in his voice is what prompts me to get out of the truck. My feet hit the ground, but I underestimated how close Theo was standing because my chest brushes against his, causing me to stumble. His hand shoots out, catching my elbow, and my skin bursts into flames where his fingers meet it.
Theo stands looking down at me, his eyes alight with humor. We stare at each other for a moment, a foreign ache forming in my chest before I yank my elbow out of his hold and smooth my hand over my clothes. After composing myself, I step forward, expecting Theo to move, but he’s a statue—if a statue was made up of hard muscle and warm flesh. Theo continues to stare down at me, the humor in his eyes dimmed, leaving something else behind. Something darker than before.
“Well,” I say, “I’m out of the truck. Let’s go.”
He shakes his head. “Not yet. Let’s talk.” His voice is cast so low that it sends a shiver over my spine, and Theo’s eyes follow the goosebumps that pop up along my arm. Thankfully, he doesn’t remark on them, though.
“Talk about what?” I ask, as if standing here, trapped by a man who is dangerous to my health—my mental health at least—is a regular everyday occurrence.
Theo lifts his hand, letting the pads of his fingers follow the line of bumps on my arms. “I told you—we’re going to treat this as practice. Help you lower those walls, even if it’s just a little bit, but I have a feeling you have no idea how to do that. So let’s talk about it.”
I stick my tongue in my cheek, ready to argue, but he shakes his head. “Don’t try to deny it, hopeless. We’ve already had that argument.”
Sighing, I give in. Arguing with him will get me nowhere, especially when he is right. “Fine?”
Theo’s grin could power the entire state of Texas. It’s beautiful. Because, of course, it is.
“Did that hurt?” he asks.
“Did what hurt?” I ask in a growl.
“Being agreeable.”
